Screw-driver.



PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905.

J; SWAN.

SCREW D R.

APPLIOATION FILE n mares.

llifs Patented February 28, 1905.

JAMES SWAN, OF SEYMOUR, UONNFJC"IGUT.

SCREW-DRIVER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,763, dated February 28, 1905.

Application filed November 21, 190 1. Serial No. 233,562.

To (all 'IUII/O'IIZ/ it 'ntlt l con/007 12,:

lie it known that 1, JAMES SWAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seymour, county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Screw-Driver, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to screw-drivers and similar articles, and has for its object to produce a tool of this character which shall be simple and inexpensive to produce and shall be so constructed as to render loosening of the ferrule or tool or the removal of either from the handle or turning of either ferrule or tool relative to the handle or of the ferrule and tool relative to each other practically impossible.

lit is of course well understood that except in relatively high-priced tools it is a common complaint that the ferrules become loosened and slip off and that the tools turn relatively to the handle and the ferrule and frequently drop out of the handle, thusrendering them practically useless. These objections are wholly overcome by the simple and inexpensive construction which I will now describe, referring to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification, and using reference charactors to indicate the several parts.

Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in longitudinal section, illustrating the construction of my novel screw-driver; Fig. 2, a section on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1 looking down; Fig. 3, a section on the line 3 3 in Fig. 1 looking up; and Fig. 1- is a section of the ferrule end of the handle with the ferrule applied thereto, but before the insertion of the tang and shank of the tool.

10 denotes the handle, which may be of any ordinary or preferred construction and is provided with the usual reduced end 11 to receive the ferrule 12. The ferrule is drawn to an elongated cup shape from sheet metal. The metal at the center of the closed end of the cup is forced inward with a punch to form an opening 13 to receive the shank of the tool, the displaced metal going to form a plurality of inwardly-extending prongs 14L, surrounding the opening, and the sides of the ferrule are formed to an approximation of a barrel shape that is to say, the ferrule is so shaped as to give it a bulge or greater diameter 15 at a point intermediate the ends. In addition to bulge 15 the ferrule may be formed with a groove or depression 16 near the head, thus giving to the edge of the head the form of a rounded rib, which I have indicated by 17. At the open end of the ferrule on the inner side I provide a plurality of longitudinal grooves 18.

19 denotes the tool, in the present instance a screw-driver, which is provided with a shank 20, terminating in a flattened tang 21. The portion of the shank contiguous to the tang is unrounded -that is to say, made any shape in CI'OSS-SGCiJlOTl other than round, as polygm nal or preferably oval, as shown in the draw;- ings.

in assembling, the ferrule is placed over the reduced end of the handle and driven thereon, prongs, 14 being driven into the wood until the end of the reduced portion rests against the inner faceof the head of the ferrule. The tang and the contiguous portion of the shank are then driven into the reduced end of the handle through opening 13.) in the ferrule. As this opening is made smaller than the unrounded shank, the driving of the tang and shank therethrough causes the metal of the ferrule surrounding the opening to'conform to the oval or otherwise no rounded shank, thus looking the shank rigidly to the ferrule, so that movement of the shank relative to the ferrule is made practi sally impossible, likewise withdrawal of the tool from the handle, the shank being gripped firmly by the sides of prongs 1a in addition to the frictional engagement of the wood of the handle with the tap The effect of the driving of the tang into the wood of the handle is clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. The wood of the reduced end is expanded by the driving in of the tang and caused to completely fill the bulge between the ends of the ferrule, thus rendering it impossible for the ferrule to come off, or, in fact, to be removed without destroying it. The ferrule, and with it the tool, is locked against turning relative to the handle both by the prongs 141:, which are forced into the wood of the handle at its outer end, and by the engagement of the wood of the handle with grooves 18 on the inner side of the open end of the ferrule, the wood being forced into these grooves by the driving in of the tang. It will thus be seen that each end of the ferrule is independently locked against rotation on the handle.

Having thus described my invention, I claim I 1. In a tool of the character described the combination with a handle having a reduced end and a cup-shaped ferrule having an opening in its end, and inwardly-extending prongs surrounding the opening, said ferrule being of greatest diameter intermediate its ends, of a tang and an unrounded shank driven through the opening and into the wood of the handle, the cross-sectional area of the unrounded portion of the tang being larger than the area of the opening in the ferrule into and through which the tang is to be driven, the driving of the tang causing the opening in the ferrule to conform to the shape'in cross-section of the tang, thereby providing a frictional and gripping connection between the tang and said prongs, whereby the shank and ferrule are rigidly locked together and the ferrule is locked to the handle and against rotation by the engagement of the prongs with the wood and the expanding of the wood by the tang into the widened mid-length of the ferrule.

2. In a tool of the character described the combination with a handle having a reduced end and a cup-shaped ferrule having an opening in its end, inwardly-extending prongs surrounding the opening, and longitudinal grooves on the inner side of the open end, said ferrule being of greatest diameter intermediate its ends, of a tang and an unrounded shank driven through the opening in close contact therewith and with the prongs and into the wood of the handle, said tang and the opening in the ferrule into and through which it is driven being of relative shape and size as to causea change in the shape of the opening during the driving of the tang to provide a frictional and gripping engagement of the tang and said prongs, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a tool of the character described the combination with a handle having a reduced end and a cup-shaped ferrule having an opening in its end, inwardly-extending prongs surrounding the opening, a depression near the head and a bulge intermediate the ends, of a tang and an unrounded shank driven through the opening and into the wood of the handle, the tang and opening in the ferrule being relatively shaped to provide a frictional and gripping engagement of said tang and prongs when the tang is driven into and through the opening, whereby the shank is locked to the ferrule and the ferrule is locked to the handle.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES SM AN.

\Vitnesses:

S. IV. ATHERTON, ZALMON GoonsnLL. 

